Post binder for loose leaf sheets



Dec. 11, 1934.

J. SCHADE POST BINDER FOR LOOSE LEAF SHEETS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1933 Dec. 11, 1934. J. SCHADE POST BINDER FOR LOOSE LEAF SHEETS Filed Feb. 10, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 PE [3: E

J/forneg Dec. 11, 1934 315:2, EEIZEIW J. SCHADE POST BINDER F'OR LOOSE LEAF SHEETS Filed Feb. 10, 1933 IE=l5 A s Sheets-Sheet 3 (IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Patented Dec. 11, 1934 U ET E D S TA T S PATENT oFrieE POST BINDER FOR LOOSE LEAF SHEETS Application February 10, 1933, Serial No. 656,049

10 Claims.

My invention relates to post binders that are used to contain and clamp loose leaf sheets, and has in view the following objects:

First, to provide a clamping member that con- 5 sists of an open inner perforated casing within which all the operating parts may be assembled and tested in plain view, and a perforated closure applied and secured to such casing so as to enclose the top, sides and ends thereof.

Second, to provide channel bearings, at the lower sides of said casing within which a flat rigid slide may be operated so asto be incapable of any movement except longitudinally.

Third, to provide perforated post gripping plates that are normally depressed by springs to gripping positions, and that are positively elevated by rigid cams carried by the slide so that the clamping member may be readily removed and replaced over the post carrying member.

Fourth, to provide a slide and uniform cams that are perfectly rigid and have nothing whatever of a spring nature in their construction.-

Fifth, to provide a resilient finger manipulated member for operating the slide, which member always exerts a resilient pressure against the inner face of the upper wall of the closure and has aportion bearing the words Open and Shut that appears through an opening in said closure, and a ribthat abuts one end wall of said opening when the gripping membersare elevated.

S.xth, to provide a post hinder, the post car'- rying and clamping members whereof will perform their functions easily and without any difficulty such as is caused when cams of a yielding nature are driven by the operation of the slide to elevate gripping plates after such members have been tightly clamped with loose leaves therebetween.

Further and other objects will be later described 40 and will be evident in the course of the following description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the construction and operation of parts that are preferred in the exemplification of my invention, and, referring to these drawings- 1 Figure 1 is an inside edge elevation of the post carrying and clamping members, showing the.

book cover securing clips but omitting suchclips for the upper or clamping section, since the manner of attaching the clips to both members and the way in which the covers are secured to said clips is the same in both instances and is, moreover, immaterial and has no relation to the present invention.

55 Figure 2 is a top plan view of the construction shown at Figure 1, the'iinger manipulated slide operating member appearing through an opening in the closure and exhibiting the word Open to signify that the clamping plates are 1 elevated and the clamping member free to slide on or off the posts.

Figure 3 is a section at line 33 of Figure 2, the upper or clamping member only being sectioned. Figure 4 is a bottom view of the upper or clamping member as it appears when the slide has been operated to allow the gripping plates to impinge against the posts.

Figure5 is a top plan view of the construction shown at Figure 4, and showing a locking device that has been operated to lock the slide, the word Shut appearing through the opening in the top of the closure.

Figure 6 is a section at the line 66 of Figure 5 but showing the upper or clamping member only in section.

Figures '7 and 8 are top plan views of the inner casing with the parts in the positions they assume when the slide has been operated to respectively elevate the gripping plates and to allow them to be depressed, Figure 8 also showing the parts locked in Shut position.

Figure 9 is a section at line 9- -9 of Figure '7.

Figure'lo is a section-at line 10-10 of Figure '1.

Figure 11 is a section at line 11-11 of Figure 8.

Figure 12 is a section at line 1212 of Figure 8, and Figure 13 is an elevation of a preferred style of key.

,In the description which follows, similar numerals of reference will be used to denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

It is usual in referring to inventions of this nature, to use the terms Open and Shut to respectively indicate that the upper and lower elements are free or clamped, and I will therefore use these terms more or lessin describing my invention.

I also would state that I am aware that lower post carrying members and upper perforated clamping members are not new, and that perforated'spring actuated clampingplates that are released by cams-carried by a slide are likewise old in the art, but in all prior constructions employing the above features, the slides are not positively guided while the so-called cams are of a flimsy nature, being struck up from the bifurcated ends of the slides, and constant use of such cams invariably flattens them more or less, that is to say; changes their angles, so that they do not operate successfully to raise the gripping plates sufiicientiy to permit the clamping memher to be readily withdrawn from the posts; moreover, in the use of such structures, it frequently happens that, when the clamping members have been pressed very tightly against the loose leaves, the cams will yield and become so distorted by contact with the gripping plates owing to the force necessarily applied to operate the slides, as to render the binder useless.

In my present invention, not only is the slide rigid and flat and positively guided on the bottom of the casing, but the cams themselves are rigid, being preferably cut from the plate itself, and therefore they cannot become distorted and will exert a powerful pressure against the gripping plates whenthe slide is operated to elevate the latter and release the posts.

As far as the other features of my invention are concerned, they differ widely from anything shown in the prior art that relates to binders of this sort, as will clearly be apparent from the description which I will give forthwith.

l is the lower member carrying posts 2, and having recesses 3 formed in its inner edge at spaced locations, Within which recess is a rod 4 that serves as a pintle for clips 5 that extend outwardly and are secured to any suitable back cover (not shown) in the usual manner. Since the manner of attaching covers to either the post carrying or clamping members forms no part of my present invention and is old and well known, I will make no further reference thereto.

The clamping member consists of an inner casing 6 having perforations 7 to admit t -e posts, and a closure member A having perforations 9 for the same purpose, said closure being placed over the casing when the operative parts are assembled and tested and closing the top sides and ends of said casing and secured to the latter in any suitable manner, as by clinching, as shown at 10 in Figure 12.

The casing 6 and the parts contained therein constitute very important features of my invention, the sides of the bottom edges of the casing being bent upwardly and inwardly to form channel bearings 11, while the slide 12 is flat, rests upon the bottom of the casing throughout its length and is guided and retained within the bearings ll. 13 are gripping plates having at one end opposite lugs 14 that are loosely pivoted within notches 15 in the upper edges of the casing and also having at the other end similar lugs 16 that are guided within gates 17 in the casing. 18 are pins that bridge the sides of the casing, and 19 are coil springs around said pins, one end of each spring impinging on the bottom of the casing while the other end of each spring bears against a gripping plate at a point beyond its pivot, so that each plate will be normally swung downwardly as shown at Figure 6. 20 are cams that are rigid with the slide 12, being preferably bent up therefrom, these cams having no spring action whatever, and when the slide is operated in one direction, these cams will impfnge against the gripping plates 13 which have perforations 21, so as to elevate said plates and bring these perforations into coincidence with the perforations 7 and 9, as shown at Figure 3, thus alining these perforations so that the clamping member may be readily removed from the posts or replaced thereon.

After loose leaf sheets (not shown) have been placed over the posts and the clamping member likewise placed over the posts, pressure is exerted upon the clamping member so as to tightly clamp the sheets, and the slide is then operated to withdraw the cams from the gripping plates and thereby permit the latter to swing downwardly so as to be forced against the posts, the loosely fitting pivots of the gripping plates permitting them to float into perfect contact with the posts rendering the gripping operation extremely sensitive.

In fact, the modus operandi and operations that I have just described are common to post binders, and I have dilated in this respect merely in order that the feature of the guided flat slide with its rigid cams may be fully appreciated.

The novel means for operating the slide will now be set forth in detail.

22 is a resilient member closed at one end and open at the other end, the lower part of said member terminating in a lug 23 that engages through a slot 24 in the slide within an opening 25 in the bottom of the casing, as shown at Figures 3 and 6, the end walls of said opening serving to limit the operations of the slide by abutment of said lug against said walls.

When the closure A is secured to the inner casing 6, the upper part of the member 22 will exert a resilient pressure against the inner face of the top of said closure, and a finger hold 26 carried by said member as well as a portion of the upper part or" the latter will appear through an opening 27 in the closure, said member, on opposite sides of the finger piece exhibiting the words Open and Shut, so that it will be clear that, when the slide is operated by manipulation of the finger piece to elevate the gripping plates or to allow their depression, these words Open and Shut will respectively appear through the opening 27 as shown at Figures 2 and 5. The re- 'silient pressure of the member 22 against the closure, as above set forth, will prevent the ac cidental movement. of the slide should the binder be unduly jarred.

The member 22 has a cross-rib 28 that extends slightly above its surface on that side of the word Shut that is opposite to the side of said word where the finger hold 26 appears, and when the slide is manipulated to bring said work in View, the resiliency of said member will cause said rib to be projected in the immediate rear of an end wall of the opening 27, thus holding the parts in the Shut position with the gripping plates 13 depressed, so that any undue jarring or rough handling of the binder will have no effect on the slide since the abutment of said rib against said wall cannot be disturbed until the upper part oi the member is depressed and the latter manipulated to bring said rib beneath the upper wall or the closure member A.

A lip 29 is lanced from the lower part of the member 22 and bent upwardly and serves as a stop to prevent undue depression of the upper part of said member, and the extremity of the latter part is bent downwardly as shown at 30, so that it will contact the slide when depressed in order that the member 22 may be firmly associated with the slide when such member is depressed and manipulated to force the cams against the gripping plates to elevate them. But it is evident that the parts 29 and 30 are not essential a1- though they certainly contribute toward the stability of the member 22 when the latter is operated to elevate the gripping plates, particularly as the latter may be jammed quite tightly against the posts as heretofore mentioned. It is not necessary to depress the member 22 when 40 ably shaped keyhole or slot 45, and a suitable key it is manipulated to change from Open to Shut positions.

I It is quite advantageous :to lock the operative parts when the loose ieaves are clamped .by the member 6 and the slide operated to bring the word Shut into View as heretofore described, ,and I have therefore provided means for eifect- (ingthis which vw'll now be described.

! .31 is .a rotary hub which rests uponthe bottom of the slide with its upper portion shouldered as at '32 and housed within a circular opening 33 in the top of the closure member, the lower edge of said hub having a gate 34 and a notch or gate '35 diametrically opposite said gate 34 one wall of said notch being inclined as seen at 36.

A rib 37 is raised from the slide .and moves freely-through said gate when the slide is operated .to elevate the gripping plates or allow them to become depressed, and an inclined leaf spring 38 has its tail endattached in any ordinary manner to the bottom of the casing 6 and extends through elongatedslot 39 the slide so that said end 40 will not interferewith the movements of said .slide.

The nosecrfront end 41 of this spring is within the notch 35 when the hub 31 is positioned to allow entrance of the-rib 3'7 through the gate 34, the function of this spring being to prevent acci dentalntu-rning of the hub and the throwing of the gate out of alinement with the rib 37.

When the word Shut appears, the member 6 will have been clamped to the posts, and the rib will be outside the gate 34, and then my novel locking device functions.

At any suitable distance beyond the notch 35 is a similar notch 42 in said hub but having a straight wall as at 43, and the bottom edge of the hub between these notches is undercut as shown at 44.

The upper face of the hub may have any suita as shown at Figure 13 may be inserted in said slot and preferably provided at its end with a round tip b that engages within a circular orifice 46 in the bottom of the casing 12 to center and steady the key, and, by turning the latter in the :proper direction, the incline 36 will depress the nose 41 of the spring 38 so that the latter will pass beneath the undercut 44 until the notch 42 is reached, whereupon, said spring will engage this last named notch and thereby hold the parts in locked position and with the rib 3'7 opposite a ,blank wall of the hub.

To unlock the binder, a key such as is shown at Figure 13, or any suitable equivalent, is inserted in the slot 45 and preferably centered as described within the orifice 46, and, as the key is shouldered near its end as shown at 4'7, this shouldered portion will strike the spring 38 and depress it below the wall of the notch 42, whereupon the .turning of the key will rotate the hub 31 and '-,bring the gate 34 in line with the rib 37 and thus render the binder operable for opening and shutting. Since the key is shouldered as described, it is immaterial whether the wall of the notch 42 is straight as shown at 43 or is inclined. But if this wall 43 is inclined the key need not be shouldered.

However, the means employed for rotating the hub is immaterial, the invention, so far as locking or unlocking the binder is concerned, residing in the broad idea of providing means for effecting these functions, since I believe that I am the first to embody such means in a post binder.

I am aware that the details of construction heretofore described may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I therefore do not desire that any patent that may be granted therefor should be limited except by the prior art, and theappended claims.

"What is claimed is:-

-1. In a loose leaf "binder, a housing for the operating parts which consists of a casing made of sheet metal that has abottom portion whose opposite sides are bent first upwardly and then inw'ardly to form channel bearings and are then bent upwardly in parallelism to form the sides of the casing, and a cover which closes said casing and is secured thereto.

2. Apost binder comprising a bottom member that carries the posts and a perforated top memberthat engages the posts to clamp loose leaf sheets between the members, said top member consisting of a closure and an inner casing secured thereto and'having channels at the sides of its bottom, a rigid slide positively guided and retained within said channels at the bottom of said casing and carrying rigid cams, post gripping members pivoted to said casing, springs for causing the gripping members to be normally forced downwardly toward the bottom of said casing, and means for actuating said slide whereby said cams will operate to elevate said gripping members or to allow them to be depressed.

3. A construction as in claim 2, with the furtlier addition that the means for actuating the slide consists of a spring member whose lower part is connected to said slide and whose upper part has insignia that denote open and shut positions, while the closure of the inner casing has an opening through which said insignia appear, and said upper part having a resilient action against the upper wall of said closure and provided with a rib which contacts an edge of said open.- ing, whereby displacement of parts is prevented.

4. A construction as in claim 2, further distinguished in that a rotary device is contained within the casing and has a bearing in an opening in the upper wall of the closure, the bottom of said device having diametrically opposite gates in its edge, a depressible spring normally positioned within one of said gates and serving to prevent accidental rotation of said device, the

slide having a rib which passes freely through the other gate when said slide is moved with said spring positioned as aforesaid, a wall of the gate that is associated with the spring being inclined and a notch being formed in the bottom edge of said device beyond said gate, whereby, when the slide is operated to permit the depression of the gripping members and said rib withdrawn from its gate, the rotation of said device will cause said inclined wall to depress the spring until the latter engages within said notch and will cause the side of said device to bar the passage of the rib on the slide and thus hold the top and bottom members locked together until said device is operated to permit the slide to be moved.

5. A post binder for loose leaves, comprising a lower member which carries posts on which the leaves are inserted, and an upper clamping member that consists of an inner casing having channel guides at the sides of its bottom and a closure having openings to admit said posts, said casing having perforated post gripping members pivoted thereto, springs for normally forcing said gripping members downwardly to bind against the posts, and a rigid slide positively guided within the channels at the bottom of said casing and member is connected to said slide and appears through said opening and has a cross rib, said member having a resilient contact against the inner face of said wall, whereby said rib will abut an edge of said opening when the parts are clamped together thereby preventing displaceinent of said parts.

7. In a post binder, a member carrying posts, and a clamping member consisting of an inner casing having channel guides at the sides of its bottom, said casing containing spring actuated post gripping plates, a slide positively retained as against upward displacement within said channels and carrying cams that operate said plates,

a key actuated lock which is operable to prevent movement of the slide so that the plates cannot be released when in post engaging condition, and also operable to permit the slide to move freely whereby the latter may be manipulated to elevate said plates and release the posts.

8. A construction as in claim 7, with the addition of a closure secured over said casing.

9. In a post binder, an open casing within which the parts are assembled and tested, said parts including a slide guided within the bottom of the casing and having a raised rib, means for manipulating said slide, a key operated rotary hub lock positioned within said casing and having in its lower edge a gate and a retaining notch diametrically opposite each other, one wall of the latter being inclined, said edge having'a looking notch at a suitable distance beyond the first named notch, a spring pawl connected to the bottom of the casing and engaged within the first named notch when the slide is free to be manipulated whereby said rib may enter said-gate, and a key for rotating said hub lock whereby said pawl will be depressed and engaged within the locking notch and said rib prevented from entering said hub. i

10. In a loose leaf binder, a support having sheet holding posts mounted thereon, a hollow clamping member slidable over said posts, spring actuated post gripping plates pivoted within said member, a rigid slide movable longitudinally within the latter and carrying rigid cams which cooperate with the gripping members to elevate and lower them, and a key operated lock within said member and substantially flush with the latter for locking said slide against movement when said plates are in lowered position.

JOHN SCHADE. 

